Apostles and Prophets

The Ministry of Apostles and Prophets throughout the Generations

Opoku Onyinah

• Editorial: Wipf and Stock
• Año: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781666727890
• Categoría: Théologie et religion
• Categoría: Ministère chrétien

This book is an attempt to trace and find out the role of apostles and prophets in the Bible, and then share these in a practical way to help the church of today. It distinctively goes beyond the purview of the New Testament into the Old Testament, and some ancient literature, to bring out the wealth and depth of the subject, and then makes a case for it. Among others, this book deals with the call of God, the constitution and functions of a prophet and of an apostle, Spiritual gifts, the difference between apostles and prophets, and how to test the manifestation of the Spirit. One important issue, which this book addresses, is how the leadership of the church dropped from apostles to bishops. You will enjoy reading it.

Part 1

The Prophet

Part 1 begins with how God communicates with human beings. It shows that God has always spoken with his creation. God started to deal with some persons who were called prophets, nevertheless, there were also some apostles. God continued with the prophets until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and now, after his death and resurrection, God deals with the apostles. This part has been divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 serves as introduction, chapter 2 deals with how the prophetic office developed, and chapter 3 shows how prophets are made.

Chapter 1

The Messengers of God

God always speaks to people in every generation. The way God speaks to people in each generation may change but there is a clear indication that he always speaks. For example, the account of Gen 1:26—3 shows that God was constantly communicating with human beings. Immediately God created human beings, he spoke to them, “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen 1:28 ESV). From Gen 3:8, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (NKJV), we get the indication that, before the fall, God was constantly sharing fellowship with Adam and Eve.

God Continues to Speak after the Fall

God was still speaking to people after the fall and this is evident in the presentation of offerings by Cain and Abel:

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have, but you must master it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” But the Lord said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Gen 4:3–16 NIV)

How did Abel know that his offering had been accepted? How did Cain know that his offering had not been accepted? God might have communicated with them. When Cain conceived the idea of killing his brother, the Lord spoke to him and warned him. Again, when he eventually killed his brother, the Lord spoke to him (Gen 4:2–9). Cain also responded by telling the Lord that his punishment was too much. There was a dialogue between the Lord and Cain, which means that God does not only speak to righteous people; he also speaks to sinners. The great lesson here is that God continues to speak to people.

God Spoke to Noah

God spoke to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch” (Gen 6:13–14 ESV). We do not know how God spoke to him. But it was very clear that Noah knew God had spoken to him. He followed the directive of the Lord and it proved faithful by the falling of the rains and the subsequent flood.

However, it is also known from the story of Noah that God was not speaking to him on everything. He allowed him to use his own wisdom to decide on other factors. After the flood, God did not tell Noah that the water had dried and so he should settle down but Noah used his common sense to decide. Let us ponder over Gen 8:6–12:

At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. (ESV)

The Lord did not ask Noah to send a raven, neither did he tell him to send a dove, yet Noah used his common sense and it was workable and good. This is an indication that, for God, using one’s wisdom and knowledge is not of itself a sin because these faculties are God-given; only they must be used in the right way. It must be noted that although God was speaking to people in this era, the people concerned were not being called prophets or apostles. Thus, the fact that God speaks to a person does not make that person a prophet because God speaks to his creation—the people he has created.

Introduction to the Prophet

In Gen 12, God spoke to Abraham and his immediate descendants—Isaac and Jacob. They are often referred to as the Patriarchs. For example, Gen 12:1 reads, “Now the LORD said to Abram . . . ” (cf. Gen 13:14; 15:1). It is not clear how God spoke to Abraham, but in other instances, he revealed himself to him, and to Jacob in dreams. For example, in Gen 15:12–14 and Gen 28:12–17, the Lord spoke to Abraham and Jacob in dreams, respectively:

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” (Gen 15:12–14 ESV)

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which ...

Índice

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1: The Prophet
• Part 2: The Constitution of a Prophet
• Part 3: in the Old Testament
• Part 4: The New Testament Prophet
• Part 5: The Apostle
• Part 6: The Functions of an Apostle
• Part 7: From Apostles to Bishops
• Part 8: Receiving Revelations
• Part 9: Limitations of Apostles and Prophets
• Conclusion
• Bibliography